"For Christians, professing Christ is the interruption par excellence of history. It is this God and this interruption to which the Christian narrative bears witness. Belief in the resurrection is the sharpest expression of this. When narratives are forced shut, even unto death, God nevertheless still breaks them open."
Lieven Boeve is a Belgian Catholic theologian, and is full professor of Systematic Theology at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies of KU Leuven (Catholic University of Leuven). On 1 August 2014 he was appointed Director General of Katholiek Onderwijs Vlaanderen, the Flemish office for Catholic Education.
In 1995 Boeve obtained his doctoral degree in theology with a dissertation on the reception of postmodernity in theology. After being appointed in 1997 as a part-time instructor, he became a full-time professor in 1999. Between 1998 and 2003 he also lectured at the Faculty of Theology of the Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve.
From 2008 till 2014 he served as Dean of his Faculty; from 2005 till 2009 he was the International President of the European Society of Catholic Theology. On October 1, 2015, he was appointed Honorary Professor of the Australian Catholic University.
In 2000 he set up a research group Theology in a Postmodern Context, supporting about thirty research and doctoral projects on theological epistemology and hermeneutics, the theological reception of continental philosophy, Christian faith in contemporary culture, and the relation between philosophy and theology. He also coordinated several interdisciplinary projects, combining historical and systematic approaches, on theological truth, tradition development, Catholic identity, and theology and mysticism.
More recently, his research focuses on dialogue, difference and Catholic identity in the context of a post-Christian and post-secular society, with a particular focus on education.
His academic bibliography counts more than 70 articles in (international) journals and 80 contributions to collected volumes. Lieven Boeve also co-edited more than thirty volumes. As regards monographs, he is the author of Interrupting Tradition. An Essay on Christian Faith in a Postmodern Context (2003), God Interrupts History. Theology in a Time of Upheaval (2007); Lyotard and Theology: Beyond the Christian Master Narrative of Love (2014) and Theology at the Crossroads of University, Church and Society: Dialogue, Difference and Catholic Identity (2016).
In 2019 he published a widely accessible book on (Catholic) education in Flanders: The Gospel according to Lieven Boeve: My Ambitions for Education (2019).
At present, he is preparing a course book, summarizing the philosophical and contextual theological features of a theology of interruption. A following book project will concern the project of the Catholic dialogue school, which will be unfolded as a contextually relevant and theologically legitimate recontextualisation of Catholic identity in a post-Christian and post-secular European context.
Lieven Boeve is a Belgian Catholic theologian, and is full professor of Systematic Theology at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies of KU Leuven (Catholic University of Leuven). On 1 August 2014 he was appointed Director General of Katholiek Onderwijs Vlaanderen, the Flemish office for Catholic Education.
In 1995 Boeve obtained his doctoral degree in theology with a dissertation on the reception of postmodernity in theology. After being appointed in 1997 as a part-time instructor, he became a full-time professor in 1999. Between 1998 and 2003 he also lectured at the Faculty of Theology of the Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve.
From 2008 till 2014 he served as Dean of his Faculty; from 2005 till 2009 he was the International President of the European Society of Catholic Theology. On October 1, 2015, he was appointed Honorary Professor of the Australian Catholic University.
In 2000 he set up a research group Theology in a Postmodern Context, supporting about thirty research and doctoral projects on theological epistemology and hermeneutics, the theological reception of continental philosophy, Christian faith in contemporary culture, and the relation between philosophy and theology. He also coordinated several interdisciplinary projects, combining historical and systematic approaches, on theological truth, tradition development, Catholic identity, and theology and mysticism.
More recently, his research focuses on dialogue, difference and Catholic identity in the context of a post-Christian and post-secular society, with a particular focus on education.
His academic bibliography counts more than 70 articles in (international) journals and 80 contributions to collected volumes. Lieven Boeve also co-edited more than thirty volumes. As regards monographs, he is the author of Interrupting Tradition. An Essay on Christian Faith in a Postmodern Context (2003), God Interrupts History. Theology in a Time of Upheaval (2007); Lyotard and Theology: Beyond the Christian Master Narrative of Love (2014) and Theology at the Crossroads of University, Church and Society: Dialogue, Difference and Catholic Identity (2016).
In 2019 he published a widely accessible book on (Catholic) education in Flanders: The Gospel according to Lieven Boeve: My Ambitions for Education (2019).
At present, he is preparing a course book, summarizing the philosophical and contextual theological features of a theology of interruption. A following book project will concern the project of the Catholic dialogue school, which will be unfolded as a contextually relevant and theologically legitimate recontextualisation of Catholic identity in a post-Christian and post-secular European context.
